Middle East News: World Press Roundup

The French presidency of the European Union condemns Israeli setteers’ attacks on Palestinians (1). Masked settlers assault Palestinian photographers near the West Bank town of Hebron (2). Several leading Israelis condemn the televised interview with former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s assassin (3). Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is set to leave Wednesday for a visit to the Middle East (5). The UN reports that 130 Palestinians have been displaced in the last two days as a result of Israeli home demolitions in the West Bank (10).

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EU presidency condemns Israeli settlers' attacks on Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Agence France Presse (AFP) October 30, 2008 - 8:00pm The European Union's French presidency called on the Israeli government Friday to take action to halt Jewish settlers from attacking Palestinians near the occupied West Bank city of Hebron. "The European Union once again condemns in the strongest possible terms the acts of violence and brutality committed against Palestinian civilians by Israeli settlers in the West Bank," the presidency said in a statement. » Read more

Masked settlers assault Palestinian photographers ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters October 30, 2008 - 8:00pm Masked Jewish settlers threw stones at Palestinian photographers Friday near the West Bank city of Hebron, injuring one, Reuters television footage showed. The confrontation came hours after Israeli troops tore down a building settlers had constructed without authorization in a bid to expand the Kiryat Arba enclave near Hebron. Half a dozen settlers masking their faces with scarves hurled rocks at several Palestinian photographers at the scene, striking Hazem Bader, of the French AFP news agency in the head. Fellow journalists escorted him away as blood dripped from the wound. » Read more

Row over Rabin killer interview ATFP World Press Roundup Article from October 30, 2008 - 8:00pm Leading Israelis have condemned interviews by two televisions channels with the man who assassinated Israel's former Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin. Short versions of the first interviews ever done from Yigal Amir's prison cell ran on Israeli television on Thursday. Amir has been moved to solitary confinement and denied telephone use and conjugal visits as punishment. The ultra-nationalist Jew, who opposed the Oslo peace process, has shown no remorse for shooting Rabin in 1995. The telephone interviews were conducted without the knowledge of the prison service. » Read more

Sleiman uses Rome visit to call for Middle East peace ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Daily Star by Hussein Abdallah - October 30, 2008 - 8:00pm President Michel Sleiman urged the international community on Thursday to enhance its efforts to reach just and comprehensive solutions for all Middle East conflicts. "Such solutions should be based on international resolutions and on the Arab Peace Initiative, which was launched in Beirut in 2002 ... This initiative is clear on rejecting the naturalization of Palestinian refugees outside their homeland," Sleiman said after meeting Italian President Giorgio Napolitano in Rome. » Read more

Rice set for Middle East visit, regional peace to top agenda ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News October 30, 2008 - 8:00pm US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visits the Middle East next week to try to advance Israeli-Palestinian peace despite the recognition that there is little chance of a deal this year, diplomats said. The State Department said Rice would leave on Wednesday, the day after the US presidential election, and travel to Egypt, Jordan, the West Bank and Israel, whose parliamentary election has effectively put the peace process on hold. » Read more

Egyptian police find 8 missiles in Sinai ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post October 30, 2008 - 8:00pm An Egyptian security official said on Thursday night that police have discovered eight missiles in an underground bunker in the northern Sinai. The official told AP that surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles were found, but provided no more details. It is not uncommon for police to find explosives, light arms and mines in Sinai, but they rarely report discovering missiles. Most of the weapons are believed to be intended to be smuggled into the Gaza Strip. Israel has repeatedly accused Egypt of not doing enough to stop the smuggling of arms into Gaza. » Read more

Egypt would hand over prisoner swap talks - Mubarak ATFP World Press Roundup Article from October 30, 2008 - 8:00pm EGYPT WOULD WILLINGLY stand aside and let some other government mediate a prisoner release between Israelis and Palestinians, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said in an interview published on Thursday. Egypt has been trying for months, so far without success, to arrange the exchange of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit for hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli jails. Palestinians in Gaza have been holding Shalit for more than two years. » Read more

30 Oct. ’08: Olive harvest season begins in West Bank ATFP World Press Roundup Article from B'Tselem October 30, 2008 - 8:00pm The harvest season began in the West Bank several weeks ago, and is expected to end in two weeks. In light of the rise in settler violence in the last year, the olive-picking is accompanied by fear of settlers attacking Palestinian farmers. In a grove belonging to Burin, for instance, near which the Yitzhar settlement has been built, settlers threw stones at farmers picking olives for over an hour, while soldiers stood by and did not intervene. One farmer was wounded in the head and hospitalized. » Read more

Israeli forces raid West Bank college campus, seize 15 students ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency October 30, 2008 - 8:00pm The Israeli military seized 15 students from the Palestine Technical College in the West Bank town of Al-Arrub, north of Hebron, after opening fire on the campus on Thursday morning, witnesses told Ma'an. The public relations officer of the college, Abed Al-Men'em Zahdah told Ma'an that "at least 15 students were arrested from the college and the agricultural school." » Read more

UN: 130 West Bank Palestinians displaced by Israel in two days ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency October 30, 2008 - 8:00pm Israeli military bulldozers destroyed houses in two West Bank communities on Wednesday and Thursday, leaving approximately 130 Palestinians homeless, United Nations (UN) sources told Ma'an. In the village of Umm Al-Kher, south of Hebron, Israeli bulldozers, accompanied by some 60 soldiers, destroyed Palestinian homes near the Karmel settlement. Workers employed by the Israeli military removed the furniture from the structures before the demolitions. As a result, 95 people were left homeless, including a woman who had recently given birth. » Read more

How Stupid Do They Think Jews Are? ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Israel Policy Forum by M.J. Rosenberg - October 30, 2008 - 8:00pm I have been looking to see if the Jewish “defense organizations” put out statements condemning the vicious attacks on Professor Rashid Khalidi, the Palestinian-American academic. I looked in vain. But then, these Jewish organizations tend not to get overly excited when the targets of bigotry are Palestinian or even Palestinian-American. And some of these organizations themselves play the “guilt by [Palestinian] association” game so they are in no position to criticize it. » Read more

EU condemns settler 'acts of brutality' against Palestinians ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz October 30, 2008 - 8:00pm The European Union on Friday issued a harsh condemnation of settler violence against Palestinians after a recent upsurge in clashes in the West Bank. "The European Union once again condemns in the strongest possible terms the acts of violence and brutality committed against Palestinian civilians by Israeli settlers in the West Bank," the EU presidency said. The censure came after a series of violent clashes between settlers, Palestinians and the Israel Defense Forces during the current olive harvest. » Read more

The Middle East also wants a change ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Akiva Eldar - (Opinion) October 30, 2008 - 8:00pm One might think that Gerald Ford (of whom it was said that he could not walk and chew gum at the same time) is the leading candidate for president of the United States. Otherwise, it is impossible to explain why the left fears (and the right hopes) that Barack Obama (or perhaps even John McCain) will be up to his neck in the economic crisis for months and will be unavailable for dipping in the Middle Eastern swamp. By that time the Likud will have established a government of refusal, or perhaps a unity government, i.e., a government of paralysis. » Read more

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